James Rosenfeld

Jim Rosenfeld litigates and counsels on media, intellectual property, and Internet law – including copyright, trademark, right of publicity, invasion of privacy, defamation, and commercial matters. He represents book, magazine, and newspaper publishers, television and radio broadcasters, and a wide array of Internet content and service providers, including the operators of blogs and other online publications; the licensors of images, footage and music; and the publishers of news, health, technology, education, and travel websites.

Jim is experienced in all aspects of litigation and arbitration, and equally adept at avoiding and resolving disputes. He has a particular expertise in digital media law, advising clients on issues unique to content providers on the Internet and other new platforms, including the DMCA and CDA legal immunities for user-generated content, liability arising from linking, framing and aggregation, and issues relating to online advertising, social media and piracy. He seeks to understand clients’ businesses thoroughly and shapes legal strategies to fit their competitive goals.

Representative Experience

Johnson v. Warner Bros. et al.

Defending CBS Interactive, Viacom International, Inc., BET Interactive, Daily News, L.P., Gannett Company, Inc., iHeartMedia, Inc., Interactive One, LLC and Real Times Media, LLC against libel and privacy claims brought by a rapper named Marques Andre Johnson. Plaintiff alleges that defendants misidentified Johnson as having jumped off of a balcony and severed his own penis, when a different man named Andre Johnson committed these acts. DWT filed a motion to dismiss on various grounds, including statute of limitations, venue, and lack of actual malice. (D. Del. Ongoing)

New York Public Radio v. Office of the Governor

Representing New York Public Radio in connection with the state denying multiple requests to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and several state agencies under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47-1A-1.1 et seq. (“OPRA”), and the common law right to access for various documents, including documents relating to “Bridgegate” and the dispensation of federal funds for relief in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. NYPR appealed 12 of the denied requests to the Superior Court. The parties settled as to eight of those requests on favorable terms to NYPR, with the government either providing documents or searching and confirming they had none; NYPR obtaining access to documents under two of the requests; and being denied access as to two. Court awarded attorney’s fees as to the eight settled requests, in amounts cumulatively exceeding $83,000. On the state’s appeal, the Appellate Division reversed in part and remanded in part as to the Superior Court’s grant of two requests; proceedings on remand and appeal are ongoing. (N.J. Super. Ct. and App. Div. Ongoing)

Perlman et al. v. Vox Media

Defending Vox Media in a defamation action arising from articles in its technology blog, “The Verge,” about plaintiffs, a businessman, and two of his companies. The case raises significant issues concerning republication, opinion, and the reporter’s privilege. (Del. Ch. Ongoing)

The Republic of Kazakhstan v. Does 1-100

Representing digital publication Respublika, a longtime and now exiled critic of the government of Kazakhstan, in connection with a lawsuit brought by Kazakhstan in U.S. Court. Kazakhstan filed a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claim against “Does 1-100,” alleging that the unknown defendants hacked into government computers and stole various confidential documents – some of which were published on Respublika’s website. After the Court issued a preliminary injunction enjoining the Doe defendants and anyone acting in concert with them from using, disclosing, or disseminating the documents, Kazakhstan attempted to use the injunction to take materials down from Respublika’s site and Facebook page and to obtain discovery about Respublika journalists. Respublika moved for clarification of the injunction on First Amendment grounds, obtaining a court order clarifying that the injunction did not apply to it because there was no allegation or proof that Respublika was involved with the hacking in any way – notwithstanding that Respublika had rightfully published the information – and because the application of the injunction to prevent Respublika from printing such materials was a prior restraint. (S.D.N.Y. Ongoing)

Bell v. Care.com

Successfully obtained dismissal of lawsuit against Care.com, an internet service provider that provides a marketplace for families to communicate and connect with caregivers. Plaintiffs alleged that they found and hired a babysitter who killed their infant child through Care.com’s site, and that Care.com’s assurances of safety and provision of a background check that did not include a past DWI conviction led to their child’s death. Care.com successfully moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act immunized Care.com from plaintiff’s claims because they arose from its publication of third-party content (the babysitter’s profile and the background check, which was performed by a third-party contractor) and that plaintiffs released Care.com from liability through the site’s membership contract. See Bell v. Care.com et al., 2016 WL 1258333 (Neb. Dist. Ct. March 22, 2016)

Agence France Presse v. Morel

Represented Getty Images, as well as The Washington Post and CBS in earlier stages, in litigation arising from wire service Agence France Presse's use of photographs of Haitian earthquake posted on Twitpic, a social networking application. AFP licensed the images to Getty Images, who licensed them to CBS, The Washington Post and other news outlets. A motion to dismiss resulted in dismissal of Morel’s Lanham Act claims. Summary judgment and other pre-trial motions significantly narrowed the scope of available relief on the remaining (copyright and DMCA) claims. Following a jury verdict for Morel at trial on those claims, defendants won post-verdict motions, overturning the jury’s verdict on one of the DMCA claims and denying Morel’s claim for attorneys' fees in its entirety. (S.D.N.Y. 2015)

Rakofsky v. The Washington Post Co., et al.

Successfully obtained dismissal of defamation action against Jeanne O'Halleran, a commenter on a 'hyperlocal' community website in Georgia. The defamation lawsuit arose out of a criminal trial in Washington, D.C., which culminated in the withdrawal of defense counsel Joseph Rakofsky and a mistrial. Rakofsky subsequently sued about 80 defendants, all of whom commented or published commentary on his representation of his client in the criminal trial, for libel and other claims. The Court granted O’Halleran’s motion to dismiss based on the fair report privilege, lack of jurisdiction and other grounds. (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 2015)

Jones v. Dirty World Entertainment Recordings LLC

Submitted amicus brief on behalf of online service providers, including major technology companies and news media, arguing for reversal of district court's narrow interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately reversed and vacated the judgment, endorsing a broad interpretation of Section 230 which permits websites and service providers to engage in traditional editorial functions without becoming liable for user content. (6th Cir. 2014)

Fleischer v. NYP Holdings, Inc.

Successfully defeated plaintiff's request for a temporary injunction that would have required websites to take down certain articles and accompanying reader comments and ultimately obtained pre-discovery dismissal of the claim, affirmed on appeal. (2013)

Alberghetti et al. v. Corbis Corporation

Represented national media and licensors of photographic imagery in amicus brief challenging district court's ruling that the subject of a photograph may assert a viable right-of-publicity claim based merely on a licensor's offer to license the copyright in the photograph. (9th Circuit 2012)

Psihoyos v. NBC Universal, Inc. and Getty Images

Defended a copyright infringement claim arising from NBC Universal's use of video footage of a bank of video screens, which it had licensed from Getty Images, and which the plaintiff claimed was substantially similar to his photograph '500 TVs,' depicting a bank of television screens. The case successfully settled after filing and arguing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim based on lack of substantial similarity to the defendant's photograph. (S.D.N.Y. 2010)

Child Model et al. v. DraftFCB

Defended Draft FCB in an action for defamation and violation of sections of the New York Civil Rights Law. Action brought by two professional models alleging that use of their photographs in an advertisement for agencies involved in counseling addicts defamed them by implying that they were former meth addicts. (S.D.N.Y. 2009)

France v. Viacom, Inc.

Grecco v. Gawker Media

Defended online media company in copyright infringement action arising out of the use of the plaintiff's photograph on Defamer.com, one of Gawker's blogs. (S.D.N.Y. 2007)

Steinbuch v. Cutler

Obtained dismissal of privacy and related claims against Ana Marie Cox, former author of the blog 'Wonkette,' based on excerpting, linking to and commenting on another blogger's first-hand accounts of her relationship with plaintiff. 1:05CV00970 (D.D.C. 2007)